Friday, October 12, 2007

You may have heard writer Elizabeth Foley's insightful words: "Friends in your life are like pillars on your porch. Sometimes they hold you up and sometimes they lean on you. Sometimes it's just enough to know they're standing by." It's true. The difficulties of life are easier to manage with friends.

In the book SHINDLER'S LEGACY, authors Elinor J. Brecher and Jill Freedman interview some of the people saved by the Nazi Oscar Schindler. One survivor says this about the sufferings of her life: "I survived Auschwitz and all the atrocities of the war. But the most difficult thing I ever had to face was losing my 39-year-old daughter to cancer."

The army of modern medicine could not save her daughter. This woman went through the war and concentration camp experience WITH people; she suffered alongside of them. But she fought this other terrible battle alone.

We are all survivors! In some way we have each encountered something potentially devastating, and we overcame. And the overcoming of it was easier with the companionship of others.

Isn't it true that very few burdens are heavy if everyone lifts? And for some reason they seem lighter when we just know that, though others may not be lifting, they are standing by.

If you're trying to lift a burden alone, this may be a good time to reach out. Others may be waiting to help lift. Or, like porch pillars, they may at least be there to lean on.